The Deacs are officially 2-0 after taking down the Purdue Boilermakers 38-36 in double overtime.
If it’s true that there’s no such thing as a bad win, that is probably the closest thing to it. Despite being in control for over 3 quarters, the Deacs somehow nearly threw the whole thing away in the final 10 minutes of the game and nearly became the first P4 team to lose to Purdue since 2023. After scoring on their first 4 drives of the game, Wake
kicked a field goal with 9 minutes remaining to take what should have been a commanding 23-13 lead in the 4th quarter. Instead, Wake allowed the Boilermakers to march right down the field on a 10 play, 75 yard drive to cut the lead to 3. Needing just a few first downs to ice the game, the ensuing possession for the Deacs lasted exactly 22 seconds—2 drops from Kam Shanks and an incomplete pass forced Wake to punt and gave Purdue the ball back with 3:30 left on the clock. Again, the Wake Forest defense offered little to no resistance, giving up an 11-play, 59 yard drive that let Purdue kick a game tying field goal from the 3-yard line with no time on the clock. Honestly, the way the Wake defense played in the 4th quarter, they are very lucky that they did not lose this game in regulation.
After all of that, Wake still should have won the game in the 1st overtime. The Deacs got the ball first and scored in just 2 plays, as Gio Lopez hit Bryce Kania on a 25 yard touchdown pass.
Unfortunately, the Deacs allowed Purdue to convert a 4th and goal from the 9 yard line to extend the game into another OT. Wake sent the house, didn’t get home, and gave up a pretty easy touchdown pass right into the middle of the endzone. There were several time during this game when the Wake Forest defense had the chance to make 1 play to effectively end the game, and they just never could come up with a stop.
Wake was lucky to survive the 2nd OT. Purdue struck first with a 3 yard touchdown run from Fame Ijeboi, who dominated the Deacs in the 4th quarter with 59 rushing yards and a touchdown. Wake struggled all game to tackle Ijeboi in the open field—the Minnesota transfer finished the with 27 carries for 114 yards and 3 touchdowns. Every time it seemed like the Deacs had him stopped, he’d break a few tackles or juke a guy and end up getting 5-10 extra yards. He was pretty clearly the best player on the field for Purdue. The Boilermaker’s failed the 2-point conversion to take a 6 point lead.
The Deacs found themselves in a tough spot on their possession. On a 4th and 15 with the game on the line, QB Gio Lopez found his favorite target Carlos Hernandez for a 15 yard gain that was initially called short of the line to gain, giving Purdue the win. After a lengthy review, Wake was given a first down to extend the game—Lopez ran in the game tying touchdown 2 plays later. Ezell decided if its not broke, don’t fix it, and Lopez ran the ball in on the 2-point conversion to seal the win for the Deacs.
This was a win, but the Deacs have a ton they need to improve upon heading into the rest of the season. The defense, which was the strength of the team last year, was not very good today. Between the missed tackles, wide open receivers, and terrible penalties, Wake was lucky they were able to hold Purdue to just 23 points in regulation. In their first real test of the season, it was very apparent just how much the secondary was missing guys like Karon Prunty and Nick Andersen—Purdue QB Ryan Browne completely dissected the Wake Forest defense, completing over 75% of his passes for 329 yards and 1 touchdown. The Deacs didn’t allow a single team to throw for more than 300 yards last season—that might be a bad sign for this week with Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney headed to Winston on Friday night.
The offense was better, but they are going to have to do a better job converting trips in the redzone into touchdowns to beat some of the better teams on the schedule this year—especially if the defense is significantly worse than it was last year. The Deacs had drives stall out with 2nd and 5 from the 8 yard line and 1st and 10 from the 2 yard line that resulted in field goals. With a mobile QB like Gio Lopez, Wake probably needs to make better use of his running ability around the goal line in those situations.
In the end, credit the Deacs for pulling out a gutsy win, even if they did put themselves in that situation to start with. A win is a win, and 2-0 looks a whole lot better than 1-1.
Go Deacs!
